Power Lines: Connecting with Teens in Urban Communities Through Media Literacy

Helping readers understand the challenges and barriers faced by teens in urban communities, this one-of-a-kind resource offers real-world recommendations, case studies, and experience-based programmatic solutions for fostering crucial media literacy skills.

Information and digital literacies are essential skills to survive and thrive in today’s media-saturated world. But minoritized and economically disadvantaged youth in urban communities often lack these critical media literacy competencies. Offering a multi-faceted perspective, this book guides those who serve teens in libraries towards implementing innovative and transformative learning experiences. Librarians and YA specialists who serve urban youth in public, school, and academic libraries will

• gain insight on how factors such as lack of information and communication technology proficiency, inadequate technology and internet access, and instructional inequity place urban teens at high risk for media and informational illiteracy;
• receive hands-on and strategic guidance for connecting successfully with and creating spaces for teens in urban communities, illustrated through teen reflections, narratives from librarians and educators across the US, and voices from scholars in the field;
• learn about several successful media literacy programs that have been implemented in libraries and communities, from Hip Hop Studies at Virginia Tech to youth podcasting, a zine club, Black Girls Film Camp, and others; and
• find a toolkit of additional resources such as handout templates, sample lesson plans, and information about books and websites.